Victoria: Why Does the Theme Song Repeat “Gloriana”?
After this week’s episode of Victoria, it seems like the perfect time to discuss the show’s theme song and the most prominent lyric.
Did you notice how many times Victoria name-checks Elizabeth I this week? First the Virgin Queen shows up in portrait form. Then, Victoria herself does some 19th-century cosplay. Finally, everyone around her seems to think it a good idea to call her…the virgin queen. Interestingly enough, this isn’t the first time the show has referenced Elizabeth I. If you listen closely to the theme music, you can pick out two words: “Gloriana” and “Hallelujah”.
Enthusiasts of The Crown on Netflix may also recall that the finale for Season 1 of that series has the title “Gloriana” as well. Essentially, both shows are really name-checking Elizabeth I, since she’s about the most obvious reference for an English queen aside from Victoria and Elizabeth II. (Nobody remembers Anne.)
Elizabeth I Was Totally a Faerie Queen(e)
Take yourself back to the 16th century for a moment. Elizabeth I Tudor succeeded her half-sister, Mary, as queen. If nothing else, Elizabeth knew how to play the game of symbolism. Even the Encyclopedia Britannica points it out. Gloriana, as Britannica states, was the name of the queen of the fairies. More accurately, she’s the queen of the fairies in The Faerie Queene, a long work by Edmund Spenser published during Elizabeth’s reign. Now, you may find this next part a touch shocking. Spenser’s Gloriana represented Elizabeth and also glory itself. Again, even Britannica points this out.
In other words, using the name Gloriana hearkens back to a queen who gave her time period her name. It refers to a time when England was on the up and up, defeating the Spanish Armada, and generally going along quite well. Granted, Mary I Tudor had the nickname “Bloody Mary,” so pretty much anything could have worked as an improvement.
Unsurprisingly, Victoria looks to Elizabeth for inspiration in episode two, “Brocket Hall”, since she doesn’t want to marry. In fact, her and Melbourne’s conversation during their dance at the ball refers to the purported relationship between Elizabeth and Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester.
When Britannica even says Dudley may have been Elizabeth’s lover, you know it’s serious. Melbourne did not just make that little rumor up.
Victoria airs Sundays on PBS.